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horrible experience with GA in TPA airport

horrible experience with GA in TPA airport

Old Jun 15, 2019, 2:12 pm
  #106  
 
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Originally Posted by omaralt
lol. We all think things that we don’t act on. I would never punch somebody unless I was punched first. But yes, I was extremely stressed; being on the verge of missing of our family vacation and running through the airport with 3 young kids. And he knew our situation but still acted like that. I did not wrong him in anyway.
That's not quite my point. We all replay disputes in our minds, wishing we’d said or done something we didn’t. I’m saying that during or after a disagreement with someone, it never occurs to me that I’d like to punch that person or to tell them to do something obscene that is physiologically impossible. Of course, you didn’t do or say those things, but that you mentioned them here makes me wonder how quick you were to anger and how much you escalated the situation unnecessarily. I really would be interested in hearing the GA’s take on what happened.
SJOGuy is offline  
Old Jun 15, 2019, 3:13 pm
  #107  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 66
Originally Posted by SJOGuy
We all replay disputes in our minds, wishing we’d said or done something we didn’t. I’m saying that during or after a disagreement with someone, it never occurs to me that I’d like to punch that person or to tell them to do something obscene that is physiologically impossible.
Really? I would consider both of these things normal human reactions to a stressful situation with someone who appears to be intentionally amplifying a problem (and then smirking about it). It's engaging in this form of fantasy retaliation inside your mind that keeps people from actually becoming violent or abusive. Reading through this entire thread, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the cool-headed demeanor the OP has maintained despite frequent personal attacks and condescending suggestions that he should somehow have prevented the situation from occurring in the first place.

I'm surprised that no one has noted the fact that the delay in getting to the gate is quite likely to have been the fault of AA and their prehistoric IT system, not Travelocity. I don't have children, but know many others who do and routinely have problems with lap infant ticketing even when booked directly with AA. If AA could actually fix their systems so that these problems did not occur as often, passengers like the OP and their family would be at the gate ahead of time, ready to board into their MCE seats (which are advertised as offering the opportunity to access overhead space ahead of other passengers--such that a family of 5 should safely assume that they will be able to carry on much more than just one bag) and we would not be having this discussion. But they haven't fixed their system, they cause passengers to spend hours at the airport just trying to check in to their flight, and then refuse to make any reasonable accommodation to solve the resulting problems. When the GA repeatedly asserts, "We only do that for First Class passengers," what they are saying is, "I could easily fix this problem that we have created, but I won't because you are seated in Coach." Rules are rules, but people are people. Which is more important?
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Old Jun 15, 2019, 3:23 pm
  #108  
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Originally Posted by jlc201
Really? I would consider both of these things normal human reactions to a stressful situation with someone who appears to be intentionally amplifying a problem (and then smirking about it). It's engaging in this form of fantasy retaliation inside your mind that keeps people from actually becoming violent or abusive. Reading through this entire thread, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the cool-headed demeanor the OP has maintained despite frequent personal attacks and condescending suggestions that he should somehow have prevented the situation from occurring in the first place.

I'm surprised that no one has noted the fact that the delay in getting to the gate is quite likely to have been the fault of AA and their prehistoric IT system, not Travelocity. I don't have children, but know many others who do and routinely have problems with lap infant ticketing even when booked directly with AA. If AA could actually fix their systems so that these problems did not occur as often, passengers like the OP and their family would be at the gate ahead of time, ready to board into their MCE seats (which are advertised as offering the opportunity to access overhead space ahead of other passengers--such that a family of 5 should safely assume that they will be able to carry on much more than just one bag) and we would not be having this discussion. But they haven't fixed their system, they cause passengers to spend hours at the airport just trying to check in to their flight, and then refuse to make any reasonable accommodation to solve the resulting problems. When the GA repeatedly asserts, "We only do that for First Class passengers," what they are saying is, "I could easily fix this problem that we have created, but I won't because you are seated in Coach." Rules are rules, but people are people. Which is more important?

thank you. Having replayed the entire scenario multiple times in my head I really don’t think I could have done anything better. In the future the only thing I may do is carry an extra backpack in case this scenario occurs again. But again I hate carrying anything I don’t need; so the thought of lugging another piece of luggage in the remote possibility of this happening is not something I look forward to.

Either way every one has an opinion and they are entitled to it. I am not a person who complains or is hard to please. I have never in my life written a complaint about somebody or even asked to speak to a manager; this was honestly my first time ever doing this. I pride myself on being easy going and going with the flow. So this took me completely by surprise. Either way I think this thread has served its purpose. Thank you all for your response (all, even those who think I’m in the wrong).
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Old Jun 15, 2019, 7:36 pm
  #109  
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Exclamation

Moderator warning:

Folks - please take a deep breath!

Everyone is free to share their opinions in a respectful manner. Disagreements are fine. Different opinions are fine. However, personal attacks and over-personalization of the topic at hand is NOT allowed. (Please see FT Rules on disruptive behaviour and personal attacks.)

Lots of posts and members have already begin to edge upon or cross that line. Please show self-restraint and civility. If this thread devolves into pure back-and-forth bickering, it will be closed, and warnings/suspensions will be issued to offending members.

Please help us make FlyerTalk a forum for respectful, useful, and informative travel discussion.

/Moderator
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 1:24 pm
  #110  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Rockport TX
Posts: 21
I think AA's "Conditions of Carriage" isn't really a Contract of Carriage. I had occasion to download United's CoC in PDF form and it was 65 pages of legalese. AA's "Conditions" is just a bunch of linked web pages. A search for "Contract of Carriage" on aa.com did not yield anything so labeled.

A search for "valet" yields but two links, but neither page so linked had the word "valet" and the search result page asked if I meant "valid."

I fly out of a small airport on regional jets. Nearly all bags are gate-checked, with passengers collecting them for their connecting flights. I never heard of valet checking.

AA has bad ticketing technology. We had a trip going to Santiago and returning from Buenos Aires several years ago (paid business class). We made the mistake of booking on Priceline. It might have been during online check-in that I had a problem, so I called Priceline, which deferred to AA. There were two different locator numbers for our two segments to Santiago. The AA agent purportedly resolved the issue. However, when we arrived at DFW from Corpus Christi, the rest of our flight had been wiped out. AA's app and the agent we consulted found no tickets for the rest of the way. (I think we flew on a locator number that had just the one segment, and when the system saw that this segment on the other locator number was not flown, the rest of the trip was canceled.) Fortunately, an experienced gate agent (not the designated rebooking agent) was able to sort something out for us. I say the ticketing technology was bad because neither the phone agent nor the rebooking agent could fix it, and it took about an hour for the other agent to fix. And why were two locators produced in the first place? The OP mentioned a locator number issue from Travelocity, and that's why I bring this up.

Another thing I want to mention. I have seen this sort of back-and-forth in a number of forums, in which those-in-the-know take virtual ownership of the faulted entity's behavior and defend it mightily. Most of the time the defenses are at least enlightening, but some really do blame the victim, when there's no real reason to. I think there's kind of a knowledge-is-power message that says, Too bad you didn't know what I know, and too bad you didn't anticipate every single hurdle that you ultimately faced.

Although OP takes a rollerboard rather than an under-seat bag, that's a choice a flyer is allowed to make. Yes, he could have done things in a way that might not have resulted in problems, but he didn't do anything that was out of bounds or against the rules. It's worth pointing out that carrying an array of underseat bags is perhaps an undue burden on two adults carrying an infant and minding two other children. With that scenario, this would have been a family group to steer clear of in the airport, watching out for straggling children towing tiny rollers. Instead, I picture the OP with one arm towing rolling bag and the other towing a child, while the OP's spouse carries an infant and tows the other child. As a family group -- rather tidy.

As for comparing "likes," we don't know what the non-FT members reading this thread think, or the members who didn't sign in (having to do so because they don't just live here.)

Last edited by Baybreezes; Jun 16, 2019 at 1:31 pm
Baybreezes is offline  
Old Jun 16, 2019, 1:35 pm
  #111  
 
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Originally Posted by newyorkgeorge
I doubt the employee in question was worrying about Doug Parker. I don't worry about my CEO-I'm sure he doesn't even know I exist. Sorry but not making D0 has downstream impact, particularly for paxs. I would never expect AA to hold up a flight for me. At some point the GA needs to make a decision about checking bags or the flight might be delayed.
Originally Posted by pedrofs
Most pax don't have a clue on the pressure all GA's are faced with. They face a juggling act daily with attempting job 1 (D0) while dealing with boarding, upgrades, standbys, incessant questions, entitled acting passengers, excess baggage, passengers wanting to do things not allowed on their PNR or ticket, etc.
Unfortunately, airlines have instituted policies only thinking of the revenue value before weighing the unintended consequences. The big 3 make around 1M each annually on excess bag charges and about an
equal amount on change fees. The impact on the bag fees is huge for FA's and GA's, and causes ill will, gate congestion, onboard congestion and sometimes fights, and at time, flight delays. (longer boarding times and deplaning times.) . In the event of an evacuation, all these bags have the potential of impeding a rapid exit. There are longer TSA lines as well.
Look at the millions of free publicity WN has gained from their free checked bag and no change fees policy, and they are profitable.
Regarding this blog, there is equal blame for the GA, Supervisor and the OP. Ditch the outside booking sites.
If you double click on the D0 issue, did the GA being a <redacted> help with achieving D0? Clearly it did not, seems it took several minutes for the manager to arrive and set things right. If D0 was the urgency then would it not have been much faster and more likely to achieve that goal if the GA avoided the argument and rudeness to the OP and did what eventually the manager did? If the pressure of the job as a GA is too much for someone to handle without losing composure and being both rude and unreasonable to customers, then that's not a job that person is suited for and they should do themselves and customers a service and find another line of work. I appreciate that GAs, on all airlines not just AA, end up occasionally having to deal with some unreasonable and angry passengers - anyone who flies a lot I'm sure has seen pax whose behavior is unacceptable so I don't discount that they sometimes get the brunt of angry people but that's no excuse for unprofessional behavior IMO and neither is D0.

Last edited by JDiver; Jun 18, 2019 at 1:14 pm Reason: Redacted offensiveness
ryan182 is offline  
Old Jun 16, 2019, 2:02 pm
  #112  
 
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Originally Posted by omaralt
Having replayed the entire scenario multiple times in my head I really don’t think I could have done anything better. In the future the only thing I may do is carry an extra backpack in case this scenario occurs again. But again I hate carrying anything I don’t need; so the thought of lugging another piece of luggage in the remote possibility of this happening is not something I look forward to.

Either way every one has an opinion and they are entitled to it. I am not a person who complains or is hard to please. I have never in my life written a complaint about somebody or even asked to speak to a manager; this was honestly my first time ever doing this. I pride myself on being easy going and going with the flow. So this took me completely by surprise. Either way I think this thread has served its purpose. Thank you all for your response (all, even those who think I’m in the wrong).

I basically agree. Your packing strategy makes perfect sense, even if it bit you this time. You had a completely legitimate reason for arriving at the gate so close to departure, but I'm sure gate agents see a parade of people every day arriving late, often because they spent too much time in the bar, and then giving them lip about checking bags. The irony is that the agent probably spent more time and effort arguing with you that it would have take to check it to CLT in the first place.

I think your only real "mistake" was booking through Travelocity. I get that you got a package but I always try to ticket through AA directly especially if there is anything not plain vanilla about the trip.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 6:54 pm
  #113  
 
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Wow, just wow. As someone who mostly flies UA, but enough on AA/OW to still make EXP, I occasionally venture on the AA forums, and am amazed by the level of victim blaming here! (It's certainly an order of magnitude greater than on the UA forums.)

In this thread alone, many posters have brought into question the OP's temperament / communication skills, repeatedly emphasized "hearing both sides of the story," and sanctimoniously tried to draw a distinction on valet checking / short checking (which would not be obvious to 99% of the flying public!).

Flying is stressful enough as is. The OP had a poor experience. We could all do well to show some sympathy.

Sometimes, commons sense and reasonable accommodations should prevail over complex, bureaucratic rules — and misguided ones like D0.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 8:25 pm
  #114  
formerly jackvogt
 
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I honestly couldn't stand to read every single post but I had to share what I have witnessed on multiple occasions.

Do strollers EVER fit in overhead bins? I have never seen that. I have seen families check their stroller at the gate, and when they arrive, it is brought up and they pick it up in the jet bridge. Obviously they will return the stroller to a family who has a long layover with a small child. There's no way that an airline would expect parents to just carry their child around the airport during their layover.

I suspect the GA thought he was hot stuff, decided to be difficult and was also caught up in the D0 mentality. I'm glad things got worked out, and sorry you had to deal with that crap.
ATLflyer2017 is offline  
Old Jun 16, 2019, 8:54 pm
  #115  
 
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AA does not valet check bags for main cabin customers on mainline aircraft. The gate supervisor made an exception, but the original GA was not wrong in denying the gate check.

Just because you don't get your way with someone in a customer service role does not make them rude. Remember, they could be putting themselves in the line of fire for breaking a rule that their employer expects them to uphold.
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Old Jun 16, 2019, 11:18 pm
  #116  
 
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Originally Posted by TheSkyGuy
AA does not valet check bags for main cabin customers on mainline aircraft. The gate supervisor made an exception, but the original GA was not wrong in denying the gate check.

Just because you don't get your way with someone in a customer service role does not make them rude. Remember, they could be putting themselves in the line of fire for breaking a rule that their employer expects them to uphold.
Because you seem to know so much about AA, do you also know whether any AA (or airline) employee ever got reprimanded for breaking this "valet bag" rule for mainline?

In seriously, you really think they worry about those things? I thought the unions are so powerful none of them ever have to worry about their job security. I mean, what does it take to get fired? I think even having a man dragged off a plane with blood running down his face isn't enough. But somehow this is?
s0ssos is offline  
Old Jun 17, 2019, 2:40 am
  #117  
 
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Thank God today is Monday. Hopefully, the OP has complained already and will get a response today and this thread can die a natural death.

I have never understood why the FT threads need to devolve into over 100 replies of back and forth. If someone has a customer service failure, they should be complaining to the airline’s customer service desk THEN posting on FT about a resolution. The resolution might be helpful to someone in the future. To come here and start a thread first simply invites a rather exhausting back and forth that is full of angst.

And guess what? At the end of the day, there will be no resolution of the customer service failure via the replies in the thread because, well, this isn’t AA’s Customer Service desk.

Last edited by rumboj; Jun 17, 2019 at 10:04 am
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 5:28 am
  #118  
 
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Originally Posted by btonkid12345
Regardless of how a bag is checked - the POLICY is that short checking is absolutely not allowed. Period.

There is no guarantee your bag is coming on board. You were forced because you were late and there wasn't space.

It's not a question of what you want - its a question of what's operationally necessary.

And it's not stupid, it's actually quite smart; the only people who would want to short check would be violating the airline's CoC. Otherwise, it would be really stupid to force a connecting passenger to leave airside during a connection, just to wait for a retrieve a bag - potentially causing them to miss their connection.

That just isn't how things works. This policy actually makes sense, and the policy wasn't on your side. You were late and it wasn't AA's fault; you said your ticket had problems, and when that happens, you're just lucky to get a seat on the plane, forget about your bags.
at the same time, the CoC doesn’t really guarantee anything except getting you (and only you) to your destination. Seat choice is not guaranteed, J/F seating is not guaranteed, bags reaching destination are not guaranteed, and if the FA closes the restrooms and restricts water/food carts then this also is probably within accepted policy. With few airline options these days and no negotiating power to hammer out a term sheet before each flight, calmly standing your ground for an exception in this case (and reasonably so given the details) is about the only thing you can do these days.

i don’t get the restriction on short checking within GA discretion.
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Old Jun 17, 2019, 6:57 am
  #119  
 
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Originally Posted by jackvogt
Do strollers EVER fit in overhead bins? I have never seen that.
Yes. They can even fit under most seats.

http://gbchildusa.com/products/pockit/
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Old Jun 18, 2019, 6:52 am
  #120  
 
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Originally Posted by rjque
Seriously? A nearly full-day journey from TPA to Europe is going to require many, many more diapers than one.
TPA to Europe takes 24 hours? Wowsa...

Many, many more than 1? Packs start at 12, and I assume even a 12 pack lasts more than 1 day.

So they needed 3? 4? That's definitely not many more, it's 2-3 more. Hyperbole much?
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